News

Scotland bids for world power

A MULTI-MILLION-POUND investment, the largest ever by one of Scotland’s three intermediate technology institutes (ITIs), could create thousands of jobs and make Scotland a world leader in a revolutionary new technology.

ITI Energy, one of the three publicly funded ITIs set up to develop and exploit new technologies, is investing £9.3m in a company called Plurion to develop a large-scale battery system.

The battery — the size of a small room — can be used to store energy to power 50 homes for four hours. It can be used as backup support for the national grid or to gather energy more effectively from renewables.

Aberdeen-based ITI Energy reckons the market for flow battery systems such as Plurion’s could be worth £1 billion by 2020.

Flow batteries store energy electrochemically. The batteries have a long life and are non-toxic.

The move is good news for the ITIs, which have been dogged by controversy